CCTV News: The head of the Consumer Promotion Department of the Ministry of Commerce talks about the situation of my country's consumer market in the first quarter of 2025.

Since this year, commercial authorities at all levels have conscientiously implemented the decisions and deployments of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, vigorously implemented special actions to boost consumption, and increased efforts to expand consumer goods for exchange for new products, expand service consumption, innovate consumption scenarios, and achieved a stable start in the consumer market. The vitality potential of my country's super-large-scale market has been further released. In the first quarter, the total retail sales volume was 12.47 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.6% year-on-year, an increase of 1.1 percentage points faster than the whole year of the previous year. Among them, it increased by 5.9% in March. In the first quarter, per capita consumption expenditure of residents increased by 5.2% year-on-year; final consumption expenditure drove GDP growth by 2.8 percentage points, further consolidating its fundamental role in economic development.

First, the results of old-for-new transactions are obvious, and sales of green smart products are growing rapidly. In the first quarter, retail sales of goods increased by 4.6% year-on-year, accelerating by 1.4 percentage points over the whole year of the previous year. The retail sales of commodities units above the limit increased by 5.8%, an increase of 3.1 percentage points compared with the whole year of the previous year. Among them, the retail sales of communication equipment, cultural office supplies, home appliances and furniture increased by 26.9%, 21.7%, 19.3% and 18.1% year-on-year respectively. According to data from the Automobile Dealers Association, the retail volume of passenger cars increased by 5.8% year-on-year in the first quarter, of which the retail volume of new energy passenger cars increased by 36.4%, and the penetration rate reached 47.2%. In March, the sales of smart home products of some key monitored enterprises increased by more than 10% year-on-year.

Secondly, service consumption continues to expand, and entertainment and tourism consumption is highly favored. In the first quarter, service retail sales increased by 5.0% year-on-year, 0.4 percentage points faster than commodity retail sales. Among them, catering revenue increased by 4.7%, accelerating by 0.4 percentage points from January to February. Per capita transportation and communication expenditures, education, culture and entertainment expenditures both achieved double-digit growth. Domestic films such as "Nezha 2" have driven the movie viewing craze. In the first quarter, the national box office of movies was 24.4 billion yuan, an increase of about 48% year-on-year, setting a record high. Inbound travel has remained popular. According to data from the State Immigration Administration, since the implementation of the 240-hour transit visa-free policy, as of March 31, foreigners entering the country at all ports across the country increased by 40.2% year-on-year, of which the proportion of visa-free entry reached 71.3%.

Third, online consumption has maintained rapid growth, and physical retail has shown a rebound and positive trend. In the first quarter, online retail sales increased by 7.9% year-on-year, of which the online retail sales of physical goods increased by 5.7%, accounting for 24.0% of the total retail sales. Physical retail enterprises accelerate digital transformation, actively innovate consumption scenarios, improve consumption experience, and achieve stable sales growth. In the first quarter, retail sales of physical stores in retail industries above the limit increased by 4.4% year-on-year, accelerating by 1.6 percentage points from January to February. Among them, the retail sales of convenience stores, professional stores and supermarkets increased by 9.9%, 6.7% and 4.6% year-on-year respectively.

As various consumption expansion policies and measures continue to be put into effect, the series of activities of "Purchase in China" are carried out in an orderly manner, and new technologies such as artificial intelligence are accelerating their application in the consumer field. The consumer market is expected to continue to show a stable development trend, which will provide strong support for the continued recovery and improvement of the economy.